Master of the Hounds after Jean-Léon Gérôme, Antique Photogravure, circa 1880

A young huntsman in a white headcloth stands at the center of a grove of date palms and prickly pear, surrounded by his hounds. He wears a loose, open-necked shirt, a broad sash and full trousers, and a long curved sword in an ornamented scabbard is thrust through the sash at his waist. His gaze goes off to the right while the dogs wait around him: two long-haired sighthounds at the left, one lying and one sitting upright, and at the right a smooth-coated sighthound, a rough-coated hound and further dogs crowding behind. Light filters down through the palm fronds onto his shoulders and the pale coats of the dogs.

The composition reproduces the painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme known in English as Master of the Hounds; his signature, "J.L. Gerome", can be read in the image at lower right. Gérôme was the leading Orientalist painter of his day, known for scenes of North Africa and the Near East painted with exact detail of costume, weapons and plants, all of which are on show here. The margin is lettered "Peint par J.L. Gérome" at left and "Photogravure & Imp. Goupil & Cie" at right. Goupil and Cie of Paris was Gérôme's principal publisher, and the painter was also the son-in-law of Adolphe Goupil, so his pictures were reproduced by the firm in large numbers.

The print is a photogravure: the painting was photographed, the image etched into copper and printed in ink, producing soft, continuous tone. The process captures the sheen of the sword hilt, the texture of the cactus pads and the different coats of the dogs. The image is printed in black on a generous cream sheet with a plate mark.

With its strong vertical figure and its crowd of dogs, this is a natural choice for a dog lover's study, a hunting room or a gallery wall of Orientalist pictures, perhaps in a dark gilt frame.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.